Revealed: Ruth Padel’s email that smeared her Nobel rival

Scandal: Ruth Padel's email concerning Derek Walcott has caused a sensation in the world of poetry

Full details of the email sent by Ruth Padel, who was forced to quit as Oxford Professor of Poetry after smearing her opponent, can be revealed for the first time in the Standard today.

Ms Padel sent the email to Olivia Cole, a journalist working for the Standard's Londoner's Diary, in which she pointed to allegations of sexual harassment made against her opponent Derek Walcott.

The email was sent two weeks before the claims against Mr Walcott finally surfaced in a British newspaper.

In the email, Ms Padel draws attention to claims made against Walcott, the Nobel laureate who had been front-runner for the Oxford post. The claims date back more than 25 years.

Mr Walcott, 79, chose to withdraw from the election leaving Ms Padel as the only serious contender when academics and graduates voted nine days ago.

Walcott announced his decision in the Standard, citing the smears as his reason. Ms Padel, who duly won the election, denied at the time having anything to do with the campaign against Walcott.

The Standard chose to ignore Ms Padel's email of 9 April, concluding it did not wish to have any part in a smear campaign against the St Lucia-born poet. But we have decided to go public with the email today after Ms Padel confessed over the weekend to writing to two newspapers accusing Mr Walcott of sexually harassing students while teaching at an American university.

The 9 April email was sent by Ms Padel from New York where she was on a promotional tour, launching her new book Darwin: A Life in Poems. Ms Padel, 63, is a great-great granddaughter of Charles Darwin.

In the email, which is littered with spelling mistakes, Ms Padel writes first of the pleasantries of her book tour before pointing the journalist towards a website set up by her supporters in the race for the Oxford post. Ms Padel wrote: "Hi Olivia,

On the chair, there is still no other nomination except (so extraordinarily) Derek W and me. But thye close on 29th April so another or others may well turnup

"There is aupposed to be a book called The Lecherous Professor, which has 6 pages on Derek Walcott's two cases of sexual harassment, which might provide interestigfn copy on what Oxford wants from its professors.. ALl best, Ruth."

Ms Padel will hold a press conference today at the Hay Festival in which she is expected to say sorry for sending the emails. But she is likely to deny sending a further dossier to Oxford academics in which the sexual harassment claims against Walcott were made in further detail.

In a statement announcing her resignation last night Ms Padel insisted that her actions had been misinterpreted. She said: "I genuinely believe that I did nothing intentional that led to Derek Walcott's withdrawal from the election. I wish to do what is best for the university and I understand that opinion there is divided. I therefore resign from the Chair of Poetry. I hope wounds will now heal and I wish the next professor all the best."

Oxford University sources said a new election would now be held. It is understood that Ms Padel will not put her name forward again.

Her former supporters including broadcaster Lord Bragg and philosopher AC Grayling had put pressure on the first female Oxford Professor of Poetry to give up her position.

Before Ms Padel's resignation, Mr Grayling said he would be making a formal complaint to the university.

In the run-up to the election, Oxford dons were anonymously sent documents alleging sexual harassment by Walcott during the Eighties.

They detailed a sexual harassment claim made by a student at Harvard University against Mr Walcott and included an allegation made by Nicole Niemi, a Boston University student and member of his creative writing class who sued him for alleged sexual harassment and "offensive sexual physical contact", demanding $500,000.